Tuesday, July 11, 2017

From the February, 1953 edition of Workbasket magazine. This was a monthly feature and I'm speculating that it is a hint of how limited the opportunities were for significantly remunerative part time employment for women. The directions for dusting gloves, geraniums, and making earrings out of nylon stockings are on my Flickr account.

9 comments:

Ann Landers & sister, Heloise of Heloise's helpful hints, and all those other women's pages (ahem) columnists had to get a start somewhere. My hometown newspaper used to have a daily section called the "Ladies Section" full of wedding announcements, pictures of society brides in summer, ads for stockings, corsets, furs, and lots of household hints. It was considered acceptable reading for a curious grade school reader and a nice little indoctrination tool.

Baltimore was the last major city to drop their "society pages". Upper Crust brides got large spreads, and even folks such as me and thee could get a photo and a small write up. Even now, some of the small town papers will print articles about weddings and engagements. To be honest, I find them more interesting that the high school sports!

I used to love going shopping Saturday mornings and seeing all the newly weds lined up on the church steps, fluttering about for photos, all the gorgeous dresses and flowers and scores of relatives. We're a small family, and I knew no wedding of mine would ever look like that. They were mostly Catholic girls, new immigrants from war torn Europe, starting new lives with as many friends and surviving relatives as they could muster, and it was joyous.

Bunny, do you remember when every department store had a bridal section?

When my eldest daughter was about six, she got separated from us in a store and I finally found her, gazing in absolute rapture, at a wedding gown. The saleslady laughed when I showed up. "I just watched her. They all show up here eventually, and I just wait until the parents come to claim them."

Oh, yes, Lady Anne, I remember the bridal wear. I used to look mostly because I sew and love beautiful things, but could never imagine myself wearing anything poufy as I look falling down laughing silly in ruffles and lace.

Edinburgh Yarn Festival 2018

Because Help Can't Wait

Subscribe Now: Feed Icon

About Me

Middle-aged Middle-westerner, retired Marine and Detroiter who somehow wound up in a farm village of 1100 people. I am a Red Cross volunteer and adrenalin junkie, and recently retired from my job as a bioterrorism/public health planner. My hobbies are military history and needlework. I share the bungalow with the Spousal Unit, Batdog our GSD, Reserve Cat, our very large and increasingly grumpy ginger tom, and the New Kids (Sheba and Minnie). You will find here free patterns from my collection of pre-1955 needlework magazines (sewing, knitting, tatting, crochet, embroidery, etc) as well as old recipes, vintage household hints, poetry, occasional rants, LOLCats, and any pieces of ephemera that tickle my fancy.